Oh great point that perhaps that line IS past tense, you guys just made a simple topic very complicated.
Also I'm happily surprised at everyone's modesty, usually a grammar thread would be invaded by a wannabe know-it-all who wants to brag how
"I read books, therefore I'm smarter than all you morons".
Anyway, what I would have expected the line to read is like this:
"I felt like the single crate would be a better choice."
The line Diego suggested (
"Perhaps the single crate would had/have been a better choice") sounds to me like it implies that he opened the crate but regretted it, which (as I forgot to mention) is not the case; rather the line is said as a refusal if you try to crowbar the wrong crate, he is merely hinting towards the player which crate he wants you to crowbar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wildemar
"I went to the docks and waited. Would she come?"
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Oh god, I'm way over my head here..
to me that could either be:
a)
I went to the docks and waited. "Would she come?", I wondered.
I.e. he qoutes an present-tense thought he had.
or,
b)
I went to the docks and waited. Would she come? I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, now it's bed time, son
..as if the narrator is telling the story to someone in past-tense but posing rhetorical questions to the listener.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wildemar
Instead of defining what the story will be, you get to unearth what the story is. It's a stylistic choice, the same way that you choose first or third person in a novel. It depends on the effect you want to create.
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Another good point, perhaps past tense works as a shamelessly "owning" the choice of no/little player influence, so rather that pathetically trying the illusion that the story's outcome is yours to define (which may not fool anyone) it defines from the first moment
"here's a pre-deteremined story, but even tho you cannot influence it, it might be a story you want to hear!".
